Unsurprisingly, People Magazine has devoted this week’s cover story to Meghan Markle and how her life has brought her to this moment, where she’s about to marry into the British royal family. Throughout the debate about Meghan over the past few weeks and months has been about her ambition, her suitability, her preparation for a royal role. Unlike the myriad hagiographies about Kate Middleton that came out following her engagement announcement, I actually believe that Meghan’s past has genuinely prepared her for her royal role. Meg is, by all accounts, clever and ambitious and a quick study. She’s shown that she knows how to work and she’s shown she has a charitable and humanitarian heart. But, as we’ve seen time and time again, “ambition” in women is not celebrated. Meghan could never come out and say “I’ve wanted to be royalty all my life, I’ve spent years trying to get here.” Of course not. So instead we get vague denials about how she didn’t really follow royal stories, and stories about how she’s suspiciously good at doing all of this right from the start!

Meghan Markle has always had a gift for connecting with people. At her private Catholic school Immaculate Heart in Los Angeles, “she was popular with every single group,” her former classmate Tiffany Gooden tells PEOPLE in this week’s cover story. “She never excluded anyone and had a knack for making anyone feel like a million bucks.”

That knack was on full display during her first royal “walkabout” in the English city of Nottingham on Dec. 1. Meeting everyone from 79-year-old Frank Shelton, who was joined by his pet barn owl (“Harry’s brought his bird, so I’ve brought mine,” he said) to 2-year-old Ezekiel Wong, who became too shy to speak, the royal bride-to-be effortlessly charmed the crowd.

“Walkabouts and meeting the mayor and speaking to schoolchildren are the bread and butter of royal events,” veteran royals photographer Mark Stewart, who has snapped everyone from Queen Elizabeth to Princess Diana to Kate Middleton during his 30 years in the field. Stewart says that watching Meghan, 36, up close that day in Nottingham, “For many people that would be a hugely daunting experience, but she took to it like a duck to water.”

Those who knew Meghan before she met Prince Harry say her star power was always matched by equal parts poise, confidence and focus.

“I distinctly remember how incredibly smart she was,” says Matt Weiss, who directed her in a 2006 TV movie. “She’s a smart, worldly, beautiful, passionate person, but I would never have expected her to cross paths with Prince Harry.”

Adds makeup artist Ruby Hammer, who has worked with Meghan, “She’s a very intelligent, lovely woman. She knows what she wants.”

“She knows what she wants.” It’s not being framed as a bad thing… yet. But that will be used against her in the negative press stories to come. She knows her own mind. She knows what she wants. She goes after what she wants. She’s ambitious, which is the new code for “scheming.” That’s what Meghan’s former friend Ninaki Priddy was saying too. It feels like everyone is speaking in code around Meghan because they can’t believe that this woman would even dare to think herself worthy of a prince. Whatever y’all – Harry clearly adores her, and he clearly KNOWS that she’ll be good at this.

Meanwhile, E! News claims that Meg has quietly flown back to LA to spend some time with her mom, and then Meg plans to fly back to London to spend Christmas with Harry and the royals at Sandringham. After Christmas, she and Harry plan to go on vacation, with a source claiming: “They’re looking forward to some sun.” Good lord, I hope that Meg and Harry don’t end up on Will and Kate’s vacation schedule.

Seriously that woman is such trash. I feel bad for Meghan that she thought this was her closest friend for 30 years. This whole time she’s been gleefully awaiting her chance to knock Meg down a few pegs. What a jerk.

Agreed. That frenemy was definitely playing on some gross tropes in that story she fed to the press. Definitely gives some hints about why Meghan may have dropped her as a friend.
It’s interesting that people shame a woman for marrying an attractive (to others, not really to me personally) prince, but not the man for marrying a pretty actress.

What was she doing with her own life following and available to be present with Meghan many job hunts … where was her life. Did she love the ex and getting back for the loss … she sound VERY bitter and sad. With all the money she is paid she will be known (scorned) for her lack of integrity.

Piddy actually did the world a favour by laying out the intimate, hard working, humble, strong personalities that is Meghan.

This just proves that the Priddy woman has been dead jealous of Meghan from day one, you can tell from the passive tone of her voice that she is jealous of the clever vivacious Meghan. I am glad Meghan cut her loose, she has stalker tendencies and probably needs psychiatric attention.

I agree with you that Priddy is angling for NDA money on top of what she already made from the tabloids. Plot twist: Meghan flew back to L.A. to shut her up. It’s times like these that I wish karma was a real thing, but unfortunately this asshole has just struck the jackpot for being a really shitty human being. What a ‘role model’. The fact that she’s also a WOC just adds insult to injury.

@Marr: I love the plot twist for a laugh but I don’t think Meghan needs to worry about that basic b***. Someone said somewhere that the BRF have in-house best legal adviser. So lawyers will take care of it in case that the BRF deems necessary. Some legal office(s) US side are about to make money. They also have in-house private investigators. That excuse of human being will probably be sorry for going public with shait. Not that Meghan had harmed her. She is bitter and mean. And Meghan is in no position to defend herself publicly because the BRF does not allow that.

Ooooooo, Natalie S – you might be on to something there! I read some of the things the old “friend” has said, and she sounds like a jealous little minger. Like all traitors, she phrases things in such a way that makes MM sound like a conniving, manipulative biiiiitch, who has hypnotised Harry and coerced/forced him into proposing. Because, you know, he is such an immature, wimpy numbskull that he simply cannot be trusted to make such decisions fojr himself. (Why a supposedly very smart woman would want to be with such a dopey dick as this is never addressed,) And her detractors gobble up every negative word about her, as if, or because, it confirms their opinion.

Did anyone else find the friend’s wording on Meghan’s wedding/relationship strange? She said: “We had the wedding on the beach” and ‘We all knew this was the man she was meant to have children with” – weird level of we usage, even if she was Markle’s bff.

I mean, I can absolutely believe friend wants a bigger payday, but I also think she wants to be back in Markle’s life?

Because I think of my bff’s wedding and I would say “the wedding was on the beach” and with respect to the divorce- “you never really know what goes on people’s relationships I guess!”

In no way would I put my judgments in there about how her now ex husband was the love of her life. Plus selling home videos is just weird. I wouldn’t be surprised if an old Markle diary came out.

Priddy comes across as truly disturbed and envious. The videos she released to the British press aren’t even bad! She said she had a falling out with her father as a teenager and they turned it into a story? Poor Meghan for having to deal with such a shady person in her life at this joyous moment for her. The friend gives me the creeps. Ugh.

But everyone knew there will be super good and super bad stories. Her friend is an idiot. And karma is real.

IMO she is just a woman, who worked and she is gonna marry a royal. She is not a saint, sinner, she is simply someone who is in the eye of media storm and that shall pass. Royals will make sure that people stop talking about her past once she is married.

It simply amazes me that people think a woman of color actually spent her life scheming and manipulating to become a member of the royal family. All this negative (and quite hateful and racist press) seems designed to drive home the point that Meghan is not suitable to marry into the royal family.

And that “friend” of Meghan’s, Ninaki, seems out for blood for some reason. Didn’t she release a home video of them that the British tabloids are using against Meghan?

I just hope and pray Meghan has the strength and fortitude to endure and that Harry is really worth the hell shes going to have to go through.

As sad as it makes me that a woman sold Meghan out, it makes me even sadder that it was another woman of colour. You would think that she would have understood the unique challenges Meghan will face in this new role………….. It’s unthinkable to me that her response to that would was to consciously and deliberately add to her Meghan’s difficulties.

Besides, there is the video of Meghan which (IMHO) clearly shows the indifference Meghan felt towards Harry and Will…….it has been posted before, but I will re-post it just in case anyone hasn’t already seen it. (That interview was done in October 2015, so circa 8 months before meeting Harry).

I completely agree, IlsaLund. And I believe that, despite all the lame excuses her detractors cite for disliking her, the real reason is that MM is a woman of colour. Let’s hope she’s keeping away from social media, newspapers, magazines and certain websites, so she can limit seeing the garbage that people say about her.

Bella DuPont: You are so right. Her old “friend” is a nasty, vile piece of work, but there is always an audience to listen to and believe her kind of stinking garbage. I hope it comes back to bite her on the arse, but I also think she’ll see, soon enough, what a big mistake she made, and all for a few filthy dollars… It doesn’t surprise me that MM says she didn’t know much about the royals. Australia has long and very close ties with Britain and the Royal family. The heads of magazines and newspapers here will tell you that sales boom when there is royalty on the cover or as a main story. In short, Australia, despite a very active movement to have us become a republic, loves the royals. Yet I know loads of people who couldn’t care less, and who know very little about the Royal family, including me, so why is it so difficult to believe MM?

Every time a Royal makes a visit to Canada the CBC and CTV have to remind their audience that the Queen is still head of state of Canada… many people don’t give a fig about the royals. Even ones that used to be British colonies.

The people who step out to see royalty in Australia are confirmed monarchists and loads of kids bussed in from school to line the footpaths. But it’s not a big group, especially if you remove the kids from that equation. For sure, women’s mags make a big fuss on a regular basis but they are conjuring interest from gossip rather than reflecting the mood of the country. They just want to flog their mags when all is said and done.

Both major political parties support Australia moving to a republic at some point after the Queen dies, an absolute requisite for moving through the referendum process successfully; no referendum has passed without bipartisan support.

LOL, they do not have to remind everyone, most of us are very aware we live in a Commonwealth country.
Elizabeth has been my queen for over 57 years. It will seem very strange to me to have a king. I wonder if or how I will miss her.

@Ilsa. This a thousand times over. I fully believe marrying royalty was the absolute last thing on her mind. She wanted to succeed, she wanted to make a difference, she wanted to be known. All good things. She was not 6 with a master plan to marry that little ginger toddler in England.

And Priddy is scum, just scum. Everything she does shows why she was cut out of Meghan’s life. I really think she is one of those people with a lot of childhood friends but no adult ones. Childhood friends put up with your crap because of familiarity and loyalty. Adult ones have no time for that BS and see you for what you are. Meghan transistioned to an adult friend and bounced.

It reminds me of all the crackpot racist ‘birtherism’ stories about Obama. One of my favs: Yea his Mom and Dad were plotting 56 years ago to give birth to a future black Muslim Manchurian candidate for US President in Kenya, and so paid newspapers in Hawaii to publish fake birth announcements in 1961 (1961!!!) so that Obama would be eligible to run for President of the United States in 2008. Hahahaa!

It just seems these calculating scheming stories about Meghan Markle that her lowlife friend is peddling are substitute racist dogwhistles. Sad that as Bella points out its another woman and a woman of color behind it. I’m sure some Brit media outlet will fly her over and have her doing commentary on Meghan’s big day too. Probably Daily Mail for their vicious female first crowd.

I don’t suppose she has always had ambitions to become royalty. Ambition isn’t a bad thing at all and should be celebrated. My issue with Meghan is that she seemed like an ambitious woman who was really out to do her own thing and that she’s now sold it all for money and ultimate status. The Royals are pretty terrible in all that they stand for. They do little more than shake hands with people for a living. British people pay little attention to the charities they support. It’s nothing more than token effort. The people who make a REAL difference in the world are not royalty. Ambition to become royalty is in my mind equivalent to ambition to be a kept woman. It’s not a real job.

So falling in love with and deciding to marry Harry means Meghan’s sold out and her ambition changed to just becoming a member of royalty? No….I don’t get that.

People fall in love everyday and quite often their life plans change as a result. They decide to move to another locale, change jobs, etc. Love causes people to make all kinds of decisions and readjustments in their lives. I don’t believe Meghan’s ambition changed to just wanting become a member of the royal family. Maybe she feels this will give her a larger platform to help others and bring about the change she envisions.

Royals CAN be a good thing if they want to and that is by doing humanitarian work and being ambassadors for British culture and inspiring industry and therefore stimulating the economy.
If it were me, I would throw myself into work and take advantage of my profile to help my new country. The world loves Britishy history things and some of the cultural hallmarks. Make it work FOR Britain.
Books on the grand houses, the English gardens, all things Scotland since Americans LOVE Scottish anything. Visit farms and let magazines know what you eat and make some products for charitable causes.

Forget a woman ‘of colour’ for a moment, someone like Meghan: ambitious, strong smart and jump to achieving on her own intelligence, smarts; helping others and was on her way to greater businesses/wealth/ global responsibilities with her own profession/work ethics/charities and got on with her life.

Surely was not stalking, planning, living for royal luxury vacations/connections hoping this would happen – Meghan was far from a joint family operation nearing a decade and in another country; unlike Willnot, I am Prince.

i highly doubt her life goal was to marry a royal. Perhaps after she met Harry, her goal was to make their relationship go the distance to marriage but who doesn’t work and do whatever they can to make the relationship work with the man they fell in love with

i quit my career and moved across the country from cali to nyc to be with my longterm boyfriend to begin our life together. I dont see what the problem is. I was committed to our future. (at the time hehe)

Yes but Bill was in the claws of the Middletons. So he was a no from the start. She could have said neither or laughed and gone ahead. The cynical in me thinks that the questions was planted intentionally. Harry knew about it before agreeing to meet her. Ego flattered. Add the allegations he wanted a celebrity ok with the media attention. The rest will stay in history re: the engagement interview PR story. Controlled by some BRF men or women in grey behind the camera.

@SoulSPA, you remarked “The cynical in me thinks that the questions was planted intentionally.” The October 2015 video was made months before she met Harry, so I’m curious as to who you think may have planted the question “Prince William or Prince Harry?” As others here have pointed out, is it possible you believe a woman of color would scheme to marry a British prince, not knowing whether he would even give her time of day, let alone date her? I think it’s absurd that some people believe Meghan possesses cupid superpowers to ensnare a prince. Mostly, I think it is sad and cynical that some people cannot accept that this couple may have simply met without contrivance or deceit, and just fallen in love.

@Olenna first of all I have never stated any criticism whatsoever about Meghan being a woman of colour. On the contrary, admiration for her achievements as few women of mixed heritage achieve success in the US market. Plus her charity and entrepreneurial side. So I am the wrong person to be asked that question using her mixed race as an issue. Again, it’s not the case.
Let me bring some arguments considering that it is my hypothesis and it is based on my criteria. I was not privy to their relationship. This is a gossip site, you know? Again, her mixed heritage is out of this scenario:
Meghan herself said in the engagement interview that they had met about two years before the announcement was made. And Harry corrected her unconvincingly but he had the last word. And there is quite a difference between two years and a year and a half, at least in romance terms. Love life in other words. If that video was also shot, not only posted in October 2015, that’s just about the timeframe of them having met about two years before November 2017, when the engagement interview was recorded. The difference is 25 months or less. Two years count 24 months. That’s one thing. Also, information came out in the media about Meghan being friends with people linked to the British rich set. Pictures are there too. They met in London. Piers Morgan said that too. I’ve put together ambition to aim high, steel social skills, having contact with right people with connections, the opportunities and the right environment where to meet Harry. It’s not that she had planned to meet Harry from many years ago. It could have been fairly recent say some time before they were first introduces. And she moved fast. She was willing to be with Harry and potentially marry him.
As for the question William or Harry. Dumb. And she is an actress. She knew the questions from before. It’s naive to think she had heard the question for the first time. This is NOT how PR and advertisement work. She was a working actress on Suits.

SoulSPA
I don’t think she knew about the questions totally, but she knew the nature of them. She is ambitious and wanted big things for herself, and that drive has led her where she is. I agree with that.

You don’t get anywhere without ambition and planning. Women will always be slammed for it, but I like it in women.

Yes, @magnoliarose. I don’t criticize her for being ambitious. It’s the fact that she was so nonchalant about meeting him. And a dumb, dumb thing at least in my view about going on vacay together after meeting each other twice before? They could have gone then, whatever that’s not a problem for me. Some people move together after a week of knowing each other. Whatever rocks their boats. Buy they, H and M, said that during the interview. Nice luxurious very private hols in Africa. A detail that should have been left out. There is no wonder there are opinions about her, not him, moving fast. He’s a blood royal. She marries in. Bad optics. Whatever people do in that lux camp. Stargazing. Then meet again, fall in love and get engaged. A new royal couple.

Ageed and I also saw that video.
Of course everone knows the tragedy of Princess Diana etc but not everyone spends their time tracking the life of royals, unless royal gossip is your business. Case in point – I live in the UK and only started really looking at what Harry was up to last year when I heard that he and Meghan were an item. It was Meghan who was on my radar because of her blog and Suits.

So yes, I believe her when she says she doesnt know much about him. Why would she unless you buy into the claim that she was planning this all her life. And that just doesnt make sense. If you were going to try to bag a British Prince you would’nt wait until you were 35, with a full life behind you. You would scheme like Kate to arrive unblemished on the scene with no history much earlier – after high school or uni ideally.

Is there any legal way to stop the so-called friend from selling photos and home videos? First a certain expectation of privacy may be relevant, then why would it be legal to share and SELL videos/photos of someone who did not consent to have those materials sold?

Re the “bird” thing, it’s just a British, slightly derogatory slang for a girl/ woman

Re legally stopping this woman from sharing Meghan’s private property to the entire world for money…..I agree with you……is there no legal recourse open to her? Can any of our resident lawyers please shed a little light on this?

Lol….it so obviously is. do wonder what her (Ninaki)’s family thinks of this betrayal. It would also be interesting to know if she’s married or not. Perhaps the prospect of Meghan snagging a Prince for her second husband when she’s yet to marry the first was more than she could stomach?

I would feel sorry for her family in case she caused embarrassment to them. IICR she is not married, but apparently she had a crush on M’s first husband by some accounts. Anyway, considering her disgusting behaviour – selling M out, I really doubt she thought of her as a “sister” or a “friend”. That’s not what “sisters” or “friends” do. Never.

@LAK: when this (English) guy I met socially and barely knew called me “love”, my first thought was “so quicky?” and then “I didn’t know I was his type”. Hehehe, I was young and had no idea you could call someone “love” unless you really love them.

Somehow I knew LAK wouldn’t like cutesy nicknames.
If you want to get a cold heart stopping stare call my sister honey or any over-familiarity and the temperature dips several degrees in her vicinity. My grandmother doesn’t inspire sweet names only M’am as she is formal to anyone but family and close friends. My mother either or my other sisters.

She never said she didn’t know who Harry was, but that she didn’t know all the details of his life and all the gossip surrounding him. Is that so hard to believe? Just because we are all gossip-mongers (proudly raises hand) doesn’t mean everyone is. And what was she going to portray? “Yes, I have fancied him from afar and been obsessed with the royal family since I was a teenager”…? I can only imagine how that would play in the media – and I am sure it wouldn’t be the truth anyway.

It’s interesting to me that here was Kate Middleton, switching schools to follow William and going on overseas study programs same as him and yet no one really outwardly spoke of her ‘ambition’ the way people are about Meghan—already.

And no, I’m not pitting the two against each other, just wondering if this is selective word choice on the part of the reporters, or an underlying bias. And no, not just thinking racism, it could be a wee elitist on the American part.

I’m not saying the Meghan coverage isn’t gross because it’s terrible and I agree with you! But your Kate comment- what? Kate was raked over the coals for her and her family’s open and visible crown-chasing. She was destroyed in the press for it. They literally called her “Waity Katie” for years because all she ever did was wait for William to propose. Her coverage was just as ugly and negative as Meghan’s is now, even more so IMO.

I agree with you that Kate was disparaged for being Waity and seemingly aspiring towards nothing more than being Will’s wife….BUT, i have to completely disagree with you on the intensity. The level of spite and hypocrisy I’m witnessing from the peanut gallery against Maghan is just something else.

I only ever used to comment maybe once or twice a year (if that) on one old F1 website (because I’m generally lazy about these things) until Meghan came into the picture.

The viciousness of the comments on sites like Royaldish and the DM especially was what motivated me to actually register on that site and this, just to be able to push back (no matter how helplessly) against the barrage of outright hatred (with very little genuine justification) against her.

Last week, a commenter on DM said if she DID marry him, he/she would find her at an event and sp*t at her……I don’t remember seeing anything as vicious and hateful as that about Kate. Hopefully, a lunatic like that will soon find some other distraction to focus on.

As if other women did not “chase the Crown”. I don’t like her at all because of her laziness and incapacity to do her job. BUT, I give it to her and her family for their ambition and perseverance, resulting into a big middle finger shown to those individuals and families who see “commoners” beneath them.

@Bella
I agree about the level of hate being next level. During Invictus, the Tumblr trolls were actively trying to convince people in Toronto to ‘go for the wig’, offering assurance that Harry’s security would probably just look on and laugh. Stomach turning. And I completely understand why Harry is so protective of her.

Pre-engagement, Kate was openly called out. Now, it’s a little more underhanded, but the main difference between the two is Kate got a ton of support post-engagement even from papers like the Daily Fail and it didn’t start faltering until a few years into the marriage. Meghan isn’t receiving that.

They said the same thing about the rest of William’s plans. Kate was and still is good friends with someone in William’s inner circle, Emilia d’ something or other. It was denied for years that Kate turned down Edinburgh for St. Andrews because again, how could she have known? Then her guidance counselor confirmed it happened.

They’re just regular people not a fairytale, There is grittiness behind the scenes,

Kate never said anything about it. So tabloids made the storyline. One tabloid said she didn’t and the other said she did turn edingburgh down. Nobody knows why she turned down edingburgh. It is all guesswork. But again when she arrived she started a relationship with someone else. She didn’t have a choice in her dorm. She couldn’t make william fall in love with her.

I really think after fifteen years and almost three children later it is getting old.

It’s not so much the meeting at university that is the big deal, but she did put her life on hold for years to secure an engagement. She didn’t work, she didn’t participate in charity or develop any skills she should have known she would need to be a part of the BRF. And Carole Middleton definitely used her ties with the DM to keep the pressure on, especially during the publicized breakup.

No one can say that Meghan put her life on hold waiting for Harry to propose. She lived her life and even got married to someone else. I don’t know how that can’t be any better proof that she had not been planning to marry Harry for years.

They didn’t meet at university; they met before through Erlanger at Club H, etc. No one got into that dorm without a thorough background check and social references, including things like Erlanger vouching for her friend. The chasing began with the fake bullying bit at Downe which allowed for the sympathy entry into Marlborough, the Eton sister school that had been inundated with applications the year before. Let’s not forget about girlfriend C publicly calling them out about the behind-her-back relationship.

The entire Middleton family encouraged and participated in the “marry well” game for a decade, including hiring their own PR hack. What they failed to plan for what what she’d have to do if William ever caved, ie. work. That and the decade of doing nothing when she had the resources to have flexible work AND date William just adds to the chasing/workshy/desperate narrative.

Yes, yes @Nic919 and @nota. I’ve seen documentaries online and could not beliiiiiieve the white washing and brain washing the meeting, the relationship, the Waiting Years and oh how wonderful Catherine is.
The plot to meet him and the strategy and stamina are obvious.
1. Start with a goal (like a business goal) and make the business plan. The Middletons parents are shrewd as hack and most successful people have ambition and abilities from early on. Many examples there. So Bill is born a few months after Kate. The goal and long-term plan for maximum gain are ON! Kate, the only Middleton offspring will marry Bill.
2. What will be the first strategy? Well, create opportunities for Katie to meet Billie. How? The Middletons are not part of the London rich and aristo set. The choice is obvious: put Katie through the right schools so she will have a shot at a top tier uni. Develop social skills for mingling within the aristo elite circle. A documentary talked highly about Katie being talented at piano too. Plus the sporting activities. Plus the theater plays. Necessary from I read to have a shot at a top uni. Saturday job not required. Just loads of posh extracurricular activities.
3. That senior staff from St. Andrews can say all he wants. He’s also said that many students (do they keep stats?????) from St. Andrew’s meet their spouses while there “studying”. And that Kate meeting Bill was by chance. LOL. He may be right BUT: Keen Carole and Mike made sure that the chance to meet Bill were high. It’s called strategy, risk analysis, mitigation plans, investment, networking and so on. Kate and her family had been of course vetoed like @nota said to be eligible to be around Bill. Let’s remember that the Middleton were shrewd enough to keep their finances private. They needed a HUGE investment to make that HUGE business deal happen. The parents made no mistakes. All of their children had splendid middle-class backgrounds too.
4. Whoever Kate had dated was plan B. No royal virgin to be hopefully, and a fallback plan in case the original plan bag the prince failed.
5. And the investment, at last but not least let’s talk of the costs. It must have cost them MILLIONS of pounds from the onset with the expensive private education plus school trips and social activities plus the flat or house in Chelsea, London, plus the upkeep of Kate who was not making money during university (like most middle-class students like Kate) nor during the Waiting Years. And the side costs for the family and the two other offspring because Pippa and James too were part of the package. The cost was huge. The return on investment paid tenfold.

@notsugarhere You should write a fanfic because how in the hell would you know anything about william and kate’s relationship. You are repeating everything from tabloids. That doesn’t make it the truth. You are pretending to be a BRF proffessor but you are not. The only people who know are William and Kate. By the way william has a opinion of his own. She couldn’t make him fall in love with her. I really don’t understand how commenters on a gossip website pretend to know it all.

That commenters have opinions on their work ethic or clothes i can understand but all these stories about their personal relationships not. You simply can’t know. Hell who knew that harry and meghan saw each other every two weeks, or that she went to botswana.

Notok: that is serious rewriting of history. Nota is not writing fanfiction. All this stuff has been studiously whiltewashed to present the WK love story as the best love story with no problems except for one infamous break up.

It’s no secret that William announced his uni plans a year before he went there and his gap year plans.

Neither is it a secret that the uni was inundated with applications from female students all set to hunt him down.

She’s the one that got him. Not an unlikely phenomenon since many people meet their future spouses at uni. If it wasn’t Kate, it would have been some other woman.

Or wait, there wasn’t because between his roving eye and the hell of public scrutiny, no one else wanted him.

@notok: of course William has a mind of his own. It shows all the time. But he cannot take all decisions by himself. And not 100 hundred percent by himself in a matter like a choice of wife as possibly the future Queen Consort. He had also the seniors in the royal family in the background and the men in grey and the services of who knows how many if not all government agencies. To think otherwise is naive.
The opportunity to have Kate as a wife was created by the Middletons. From her early years. Otherwise how do you think that so little sh**t came out about the Middletons? Just uncle Gary. That’s all. And some silly pictures not that Kate and Bill falling out drunk from clubs don’t matter at all. Just a little bit, but they did not!
The Middletons knew they needed as a family an impeccable background. They went all all lengths to ensure that Kate and her family were very very very suitable to enter the BRF. It’s soooooo obvious!

Social mountaineering is real and scary if you are ever around it. I understand wanting to give your children opportunities but shouldn’t it be to get a top-shelf education and go out and conquer the world? They are anathema to me.

It’s funny that people portray it as this nefarious plot with the one and only goal of “snagging a prince” when it is also what most normal parents who have the ability to give their children better opportunities than they had themselves would do: good educations and the best schools and extracurricular activities and friends whose parents also expect the same things of them. Sure, maybe there’s an element of social climbing, but one only has to look at the statistics on who’s running the country, or the top banks, or starring in the movies to see that having a posh background, or posh friends, really does offer an advantage career-wise.

@Dally – I understand how the social class system works in the UK. But people in positions of power work and fight their way. There is competition out there. Just having elite education and the connections does not lead to meaningful success.
Kate on the other hand stayed at home in her parent’s country house in a rich village while at times living in an affluent area of London, also in a property owned by her parents. Her “struggle” was being available for William and clubbing away with the rich in skimpy clothes. The pictures are there. With Bill and of course showcasing Pippa. Talking about siblings, her sister’s only achievements are in sports not professionally and marrying well. Her brother is lost in translation.
It’s very telling that despite the moderate success in business of her parents – the myth that their company made them millions has been debunked, the only “achievements” of their well educated two daughters are that they married well. The brother is a failed “entrepreneur”.

A few years ago the official tabloid story was Kate and William met at uni and that Kate “seduced” him with her charity cat walk. It was repeated as fact over and over.

Now we know that was bs. They met before uni through mutual friends. Same circle, same friends. Years later they became roommates. Kate had at least 2 longtime boyfriends in that time. How exactly was that supposed to help her capture William? Both were with other people. At one point Kate and William became lovers. And that’s it.
We don’t know more for sure. The rest is just Made up yellow press stuff or fantasies from RoyalDish.
It’s the same with Meghan now. People make stories up about her stalking Harry. She married another dude, she wasn’t after Harry.

Met through friends prior to uni, their own circle are the ones who said William didn’t see her as a potential girlfriend until after the runway stunt and the oft-quoted (from their friends, along with The Limpet name), “Wow, Kate’s kind of hot”.

C for Carly, the one he was dating at the time and who called them out publicly in the middle of a play performance – highlighting their cheating behind her back. William’s regular behavior; got together through cheating, he dumped and cheating on KM for years before finally marrying her.

I don’t think the Middletons planned on landing William, it was stalking his movements to be part of his set and land one of the set. That they ended up with William was probably beyond what they expected.

Kate is totally disparaged, and it will be no different with Meghan. I truly believe any woman Harry chose would be raked over the coals…it comes with the job, so…
As for her “saving” the royal family???! LOL for dayz. The family doesn’t even deserve to be saved. Once QEII passes, I hope they all disband and go away. Nothing personal against Meghan, but this whole of idea of being royalty and “working” is a farce. It’s a ticket to a fab lifestyle. That is very appealing to many people…

I hate to be blunt but black girls don’t dream of growing up to be princesses. We know that life isn’t for us so we strive to be other things. The fact there are people out there who really believe Meghan set out to bag a prince is laughable. The fact people believe she “knew” Harry is funny because none of us truly know any of these people we read about on gossip sites. Unless a person interacts intimately and consistently with someone, the surface is barely scratched.

Meghan is smart, beautiful and seems genuinely nice. Harry fell in love after that first meeting and wanted more. Same with her. It happens.

Seriously, it’s laughable. Plus, if she was dreaming of being a royal bride she sure went about it in the dumbest way possible. Ooh I know how I’ll become royalty, I’ll just go the obvious route of becoming an actress, and I’ll go ahead get married to someone else first while I’m at it. 🤣 People really are willing to believe just about anything that will let them tear a woman down.

This. I did not even know much about them until I became a regular on this site. And this site is one of a kind because there is still fruitful or rational analysis of the royals and their duties. Nobody in my inner circle knows as much about them like in here, what more an aspiring and busy actress juggling productions, school, a competitive work environment, her charity endeavours and social life? Meghan is NOT the second coming, she has achieved a lot that women her age have; she is normal. But because she has done quite a fair bit, she is a breath of fresh air to me at least.

There is a Jewish aristocracy in Europe specifically from Russia, Austria, and England but some French and Italian. Some branches are no longer Jewish.
All that said I knew as a Jewish woman there were things I would never be and a Princess is one of them.
I know right now I wouldn’t be treated any better than Meghan and most likely worse. My lineage and family standing wouldn’t mean jack or even who I am related to. Just my religion. They would think my Louisiana family are an oddity even the ones who have done well financially because they are Catholic.
Still, Jewish would be a no go.

That is why I know Meghan never put that in her plans or possibilities. I am sure she had to think very hard if she even wanted to go this far.

@magnoliarose, this is interesting and new to me. There are some things I don’t understand and I hope you could shed some light for me, in case you know, about your last sentence of your comment. Is Meghan Jewish because she converted to Judaism to marry her former husband? Is so, she stayed Jewish after the divorce? I think I read somewhere that her father is Jewish but I know one is born in the religion though mother lineage (I hope I got it right) or through conversion, a long and arduous process.
Also, is there any rule that Jewish persons cannot become royal? Something specific to the cannons of the religion? Or rules of Christian royal courts? Thanks like always!!!

Meghan is not and has never been Jewish. The BBC News read an official statement after the engagement saying she identifies as Protestant, as does her mother, though her father is Episcopalian. And that she plans to be baptised and confirmed into the CoE before the wedding.

Sophie Winkleman (Lady Frederick Windsor, actress from 2 1/2 Men) had a father who described himself as a non-practicing Jew. Being Jewish or of Jewish descent doesn’t prevent someone from marrying in to the BRF and being welcomed.

BTW, does anyone have news on her? She was in a serious car accident a few days ago, but I haven’t seen any updates on her condition.

Not only ambition and focus, she is an independent, smart woman. Ambition and focus have no value on their own, and it doesn’t hurt to be ambitious and focused to achieve a role that helps you do good for other people. That’s the thing, when people have a voice and a platform, their actions can have a positive impact. #metoo is a very good example for this.
I want to see her hustle and put “others” to shame. She has the brains and work ethic required for that.

Sophie also did more engagements the year she almost died giving birth.
It’s why I hope Meghan can associate with Sophie because she of all other of the wives will understand what Meghan is giving up. Meghan has nothing in common with Kate except for age.

Meghan’s work ethic is what Harry was looking for in a life partner. Love is not the only factor but ability to cope with royal life. That’s why Chelsy and Cressida didn’t work out; they didn’t want the scrutiny. As for that backstabbing “friend” , time to turn the tables on her and start rooting around in her past. I won’t be surprised if Priddy was the third party in Meghan’s first marriage.

YUP! Exactly this. There is a level of spite in how she’s gone about this that suggests there’s far more going on in this woman’s head than she’s confessed so far.

Something else…..i listened to an interview Trevor gave just before he married Meghan and I remember my overwhelming sense of him being that this is a real lad’s lad. I can’t see him being completely faithful to Meghan , no matter how in love with her he was (incidentally, i kind of feel the same way about Harry).

I might be completely wrong obviously, but I would bet he DID cheat if I were forced to make the bet.

No shade but it’s highly plausible that yes she didn’t follow royals like that like MOST Americans. All she said was she didn’t know much & I believe her because up until a few months ago, I didn’t know much either. Then again y’all claiming she leaking stories when none of the stories were even true. And all the stuff her “friend” is leaking isn’t exactly saying anything beyond confirming “oh she have always been like this”. I’m lost on why that girl was invested in her marriage to care. And if Meghan was so awful to Trevor then it’s a good thing she ended it huh? She sounds jealous, she was jealous when Trevor met Meghan. Now she jealous about this…

But yeah watch that clip of her doing that HELLO mag thing & the presentor asked her Prince William or Prince Harry, she ain’t know what she was talking about. She only said “Harry? Sure…” after the presentor told her to say him. If Meghan ever cared about the royals like that it was many moons ago. Meghan lived a life that literally up until a few years ago, would’ve made her an implausible royal consort. Nothing suggest that she aimed to be married to a prince. Anyone thinking that no shade is a dumbass. She gains nothing from being with Harry. If she wanted money, she could’ve just married a much richer man with less hassle. More fame? Marry a famous actor or athlete with less hassle. She lived a full life, with travel, freedom, money, a job….etc.

She gains automatic reverence and mass adulation – which is what 99,9 % of actors want.
Having people acclaim you at curtain call is like opium to an actor.
Having people acclaim you without having had to do anything much, simply for being YOU, doubly so.
Also, having a swanky address in London – free of charge – is not a negligible perk.

No, actors want to work. They want to build a brand so that they can WORK. They want to cultivate an environment where they can have choices so that they can WORK.

Meghan isn’t able to work. She can’t even go the political route that she intended. She is muted, limited, and critiqued in a way that she was never used you. I find it utter bullshit that people assume acting is fame hungry or social butterflies. Most actors are introverted & only flourish in roles. Meghan at most is friendly & outgoing, but even with the friends she have in her life didn’t seem to strive for more fame then she had. Her friends outside of Serena is hardly famous & most from her college/LA days. I don’t even think she thought people still cared about British royal family worldwide to think of “oh yes master fame”. Please…

This. While she won’t be able to work, she’s already 36 and at Jennifer gets the majority of good scripts anyway. Meghan isn’t anywhere near Meryl Streep level, she’s a decent actress but that’s all. Grace Kelly did sacrifice her career and even Grace became iconic mostly because she became a princess. Meghan didn’t have any major roles and she wouldn’t have one, let’s be honest. That’s ok, like 95% actors. However, now she gets the best role – being a princess/duchess, all the attention, being a part of the royal family which is huge in the world and the UK. I’d say it’s a great achievement, like she said it a great love story, she dreamt of getting an oscar and was delivering her speech as a kid -now her wedding to a prince will te televised and she can do charity, she can be very visible, just like Diana did. If you’re an extrovert who loves the attention like the majority of the actors do then it’s a perfect opportunity for her. She’ll be forever a part of pop culture. And GOOD FOR HER Harry was born a prince and that’s why was named one of the most eligible bachelors. Is it fair? No, but that’s how life goes. Oh, of course Meghan didn’t dream about marrying a prince since she was young, I believe she wouldn’t do that on purpose but let’s not forget she lived in a literally another continent and didn’t have the right ties, like Kate.

I don’t think Meghan has casting director’s banging down her door. Her only ‘major’ role has been on a cable tv show. She is a 36 yr old bi-racial woman (albeit a stunningly beautiful one), and there are limited roles for women like her (that in itself is a problem, obvs). I very much doubt she was going to have an amazing career after Suits.

Whatever she may be giving up – the ability to walk down the street without intrusion, the right to have an opinion, the right to wear whatever t f she wants without 76398476 opinions, her previously chosen charities etc – she isn’t giving up some kind of golden career.

She was very, very good for Monaco; after all, that’s why Rainier married her.
But Monaco’s situation is incomparable to the UK. I don’t see what anyone could do “for” the Windsors/Mounbattens. They are increasingly irrelevant, pointless.

She was a great thing for them, and her genes made some better-looking genes and added glamour. But Albert the escapee from the Peaky Blinders set was the least to profit. He looks like a butcher from 1920.

Man, I don’t have anything against Meghan – but holy geez, you’d think she was the second coming to some people.

I don’t understand why incoming royals get hyped SO much. The more attention they draw to them, and the more they puff up their list of accomplishments the more they’re going to be criticized when they don’t meet expectations. I’m sure she’s a lovely person, who probably cares about charity work and helping others. But let’s not pretend she’s devoted her life to ONLY helping others, or that her career is SO amazing when Suits is the only substantial role she’s had. She’s got more of a charity background than many celebrities do … but she also has had a lot more free time than the ones who’ve had project after project.

I do feel bad that so many people are piping up to talk about her to the press though. Nobody really deserves that, but at the same time, she’s already a public figure. If I were in her current position I wouldn’t really give a rats ass over what others are saying because at the end of the day – I assume she’s quite pleased with the way her life is working out. She’s going to marry a guy she clearly loves, and she’s going to have a permanent role in the public eye where she can do all the charity work she wants. She won’t ever have to go try out for roles, she won’t have to worry about most things she currently would need to worry about. Her life isn’t going to be super easy – she’ll be expected to put the work in with charities, make plenty of appearances and remember countless rules/protocols – but it’ll be a different kind of difficult.

Honestly, if I were Meghan I would be more concerned with the way the media is out there setting the bar incredibly high than I would with people I know selling me out. I honestly hope that for the most part she lives up to the expectations that people have. But I also hope she becomes good friends with Kate because I know it would annoy a lot of people. So a workaholic friend to Kate would be lovely – maybe her work ethic will rub off on W&K a bit.

IMO they get hyped so much because there is so much curiosity about royals, particularly because royals from the past were quite scandalous at times. So it’s not the media who set the bar, it’s the royals themselves. The RF attracted a lot of negative attention, and that’s on them.

The morning of the engagement, i happened to have the BBC news in the background of my working day and Meghan went from an actress who had starred on a longrunning serial to Cate Blanchett’s career in the space of a couple of hours.

By the end of the day she had grown up in an affluent neighbourhood with award winning parents and exclusive schools.

I half expected to hear she was secretly a princess at the rate they were revising her history and the increasing hyperbole of each news segment as the day progressed!!

Well, she did attend a Catholic high school (exclusive in some people’s minds), her father has won an Emmy, and her mother’s house is in a neighborhood with higher-than-US average housing costs (almost $800,000), which is peanuts in many parts of LA. Fact spun to be much more than they are, possibly in response to their racist initial coverage.

The ElleUK editor was completely over-the-top about her that first day on BBC. Annoyed me to heck because she kept using “hero” and “to hero” as verbs. Whether or not historical reference can be found for that use, it made me grind my teeth.

Meghan definitely didn’t lead a life of struggle when she was young in terms of education and quality of life. She went to freaking Northwestern and double majored. She somehow got an internship at the US embassy in Argentina too (I saw her say this in an old interview with Craig Ferguson). Growing up biracial was maybe challenging for her at times (hard to known as she hasn’t really spoken that much about it) but her father worked as a lighting technician on the US sitcom Married with Children (the theme song is iconic) and her mother is a social worker. Very decent, respectable jobs. Her acting career is not that remarkable–some made for TV movies, guest starring on other shows, and a steady job on Suits but it’s decent and probably let her live comfortably.

So acting career definitely not Cate Blanchett’s but compared to Kate, her list of accomplishments is impressive. From the sound of it, it sounds like my childhood minus growing up in LA and being biracial. Harry has always preferred driven women anyhow. Chelsy went to law school and I think worked for a law firm for awhile and Cressida seemed to want to get into show business.

Nota: i agree, but it was still funny how they discussed her because repeated use of affluent made it sound like she grew up amongst millionaires and billionaires, and that ‘award winning father’ was Speilberg of cinematography etc.

The guy who spoke about her career described her as so successful over the past 15yrs that implied the only reason no one had of her was due to her own strategies to keep a low profile.

The entire day was just OTT bad.

There is nothing wrong with MM’s reality, and i expected some embellishments because that happens for every royal bride, but listening to the heights and hyperbole on the BBC, in real time, was amazing.

@LAK: What can I say, you **make** sense all the time Anyway, those media games in the UK are awful. Changing the tune from negative to positive, looking for scandal, the “white-washing” etc, it’s odd. Then they are not “allowed” to publish compromising info (like the pedophile thing and probably other issues). Yeah, I don’t know.

MM is now either – depending on what you read – a “rags to riches success story” or “a woman who was born in the glitz and glamour of Hollywood and has been swinging from one high achievement to another since she flew the nest.”.

Her truth is probably both more mundane and at the same time more interesting. She came from a reasonably affluent family, but she wasn’t wildly rich nor was she some poor kid from an underserved community.

She has had strong and steady achievements on her own pedal since then, but no, not Cate Blanchett heights. But that type of person would probably not have married Harry, not in this day and age. The world of Grace Kelly is long gone.

But the press has to have their story and for the most part they have a hard time with the nuances of Meghan.

It’s like they want me to picture her sitting on The Queen’s throne, wearing an eye patch, drinking wine while petting a cat and laughing quietly to herself. Take it from People Mag, ladies: knowing yourself, your mind, and the things you want for your life is not! okay! Surrender to your insecurities!!

Or actually, I probably shouldn’t, because that would mean I’m not ambitious enough to write my own. Or it would make me too ambitious, which is why I would want to marry it in the first place? I don’t even know anymore. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I am sure Meghan did not set out to become a royal. If she had, there was a 99.99999% chance she would have been disappointed in life. I’m sure she’s like a lot of people out there – she wanted to marry for love, and if that person happens to be wealthy or whatever, then that’s just a bonus. We don’t know if for her, Harry being a prince was a plus or minus, but my guess is it was a little of both (because there are good things and bad things about marrying Prince Harry.)

Now that said – I don’t see anything wrong with a woman knowing what she wants, etc. It sounds like Meghan was ambitious and successful in her career so good for her.

People are judged on actions and lack of actions according to context. Kate as a royal is mostly MIA or missing in action. When she is action, she’s mostly bad at it. Only the Firm and her blood family PR strategies try to make something oh so wonderful when it’s crystal clear she is incompetent. She does not even master the basics.
If the BRF and her loyal fans don’t want to see criticism of Kate, let Kate prove herself.
Even the pre wedding brain wash is outrageous. If you haven’t seen it just go see the engagement interview. The reporter had to ask right through the end, because of the public criticism of her, about her lack of work experience. She could only embarrassingly mutter about how haaaard she had worked for the family business, pulling her weight, some days were long days etc. The nerve!
She’s had no Saturday job when young that we kmow of and did not work as an employed person during uni. How could she be an accessory buyer part time for a few months with no fashion or commercial skills based on a degree in Arts (fantastic CV for a future Queen) when a degree in Arts is in no way part of a commercial business profile in the fashion industry. Mind you, she did not do decorating. She bought wallets and ear rings and scarfs, with her already known bad fashion sense. Well, I cannot imagine how could have she done it. I wish more colleagues had spilled the beans but I understand why it didn’t happen. They worked in a business that had to protect its reputation. And they needed their jobs unlike Keen Kate.
About the mail order family business. What on earth did she allegedly work there? Photography of commercial goods? Paper tiaras and cutlery and what not? There are professional photographers for marketing who go to school and learn through experience. Accounting? Negotiated with suppliers? Market trends and risk analysis? Business plans? Software specialist? Packaged the orders and called the postman? Yes of course, she effing did all of that because she woorked so haaaard for the FAMILY business. Shameless!

Meghan didn’t plot to get Harry until they met. To act as if she was on some Kate type of mission for years is ridiculous. It would’ve been more evidence of it besides that one pic outside England’s biggest tourist attraction.
The only thing I hated about Kate’s whole mission was it was so transparent I mean damn girl at least fake like you aren’t waiting on Will.
Of course Meghan knew of him many do but most don’t know what he’s like as a person which is what I think she meant.
The former friend can collect her coins but at the end of the day as long as Meghan show up look good and do her duty as a royal many will forget the former friend even opened her mouth.

Meghan is a 36 year old WOMAN. Not a girl. She should knkw what she wants. And good for her. What I’ve come to like about her the most so far is her confidence in herself. It’s clearly something Harry likes as well just based on how he looked at her during their interview.

“S/He knows what s/he wants” is always a tricky (often empty) statement, because it opens the way for a logical question: so… what IS it that she wanted?
To be a star? She didn’t quite achieve that. (But fame may have been ahead at some point in the future – true.)
To be a “princess”? What?

It seems knowinh what one wants and the hard work put in to achieve it is seen as such a bad thing in a woman, specially would be royal

I don’t really put Meghan on a pedestral or think she has done something amazing,but what’s wrong with knowing her mind
She is highly focussed
Its not easy to make a career in the entertainment world
You have to be tough and focussed and ambitious

If she hustled to be a princess after she started dating Harry, big deal.

That being said, maybe PR articles should stop.

Every single line in that article can be spinned in a negative way by quoting them when necessary.

Nope, she ain’t perfect for the job. She lacks an european educational background. History, laws, traditions, ideologies … not good.

As for marrying into the royal family: it means she is giving up a meritocratic career to get a “career” based on nepotism and ancient out-dated ideas of inequality (aristo vs commoner) and monarchies installed by the lord himself.

It seems that some POC seem to believe that Markle becoming a princess is a sign of equality. It ain’t. She will become as white as snow and I don’t mean physically. She is changing sides. Wait and observe.

Where do you get the notion that some POC think Meghan becoming a princess is a sign of equality? Given the racist bile being flung at Meghan, it’s quite obvious that it clearly is not a sign of equality. No POC is under any delusions that Meghan marrying Harry is any advancement in equality just as Obama becoming President was no advancement either.

All this kind of thing does is rip off the masks and expose people for exactly what they are. Like what happened with Obama, the overwhelming hate from certain people is tinged with a little extra “something” called racism.

“Where do you get the notion that some POC think Meghan becoming a princess is a sign of equality?”

The Guardian, the Independent etc. have been full of interviews and articles about black people “celebrating” (some insanely so) the fact that MM was going to be a “royal” . One Guardian article, for example, has a telling title: “Black American women celebrate falling barriers as Meghan Markle joins royals”.
So, I think it would be disingenuous to deny that many people do seem to perceive her impending wedding as some sort of “equality” signal.

Wouldn’t people at Ninaki Priddy’s workplace look at her strangely for selling out her best friend? How do people react to you when you sell someone one and everyone knows that you did? Would your current set of friends trust you? These are hypotheticals I ponder sometimes.

Would you trust someone who did that? It would probably be game over for me, or at the very least be careful about what I said to or around said friend. You would also have to wonder about every conversation you ever had with them, wondering when they will be up for sale.

No, not at all @babykitten. Harry may well have a military career but I guess he is more worldly than many people. Knowledge does not come only from doing academic degrees in “soft” sciences for ex humanities, politics, philosophy and so on. He’s been exposed to many issues on the world. I’ve heard him talk, not reading, about things and showed understanding of the issues he’s talked about. Working in the army on the ground also develops analytical, strategy and quick thinking skills. He’s been involved in projects in Africa and he’s been exposed to serious issues half his life. I think he is an intellectual match for Meghan. I don’t know how to put it better. And one learns from interacting with other people too. Always learning.

Eh. I am 99% positive that she is smarter than him and better educated but I do think he is sincere and not a moron, he is definitely not stupid.

I also think he has high emotional intelligence and you know, he basically arranged a second olympics. Yes, he had tons of help and the right people but having the idea and then KNOWING you need tons of help and the right people to execute is a sign of intelligence. Only a dummy would go it alone.

Where did you get this from? Charles was completely against Harry doing Sentebale and Harry did it anyway. When Harry and Seesio realized it wasn’t going well, they worked to find better staff and to create a different structure. This is from several biographers including Penny Junor who as we know is in love with Charles and finds anyway to give him credit for anything. Sentebale is absolutely a Harry and Seesio driven achievement. Charles had little to do with it.

Regarding Harry, I do not think he is a super intellectual, but several people have remarked that he is a smart man and obviously has a high level of EQ. To pass all the tests, include analytical and theory, he did for his Apache training AND do it at the top of his class says he isn’t as dumb as the media portrays. My cousin works in the training program Harry did in the US for Apaches and said that universally people were extremely impressed with Harry. I think his dyslexia went untreated for so long that it had a huge impact on him during his school years and on his own perception of his intelligence. But when you watch him at engagements, he is extremely witty and quick-footed.

Meghan is smart, no doubt. Even for an actor, she is extremely well spoken. Just looking at the Nick News piece she did at 11, she was wise and well spoken then too. Even though she is better educated than Harry, I think they have enough shared interests and Harry has enough world experience that they are still able to connect just fine (obviously as they are getting married).

I really think that this dumb Harry thing is overplayed. The poor boy was just entering his teens when he lost his mother in a very tragic and public way and the saga of her life was in the newspapers almost every day throughout his teens, it must have been a nightmare for him to concentrate on his schoolwork, and he did go off the rails a bit. Penny Junor is an awful woman. She actually wrote a very good baby book before she moved on to royal biography but now I despise her. Junor did a lot to push the dumb Harry stuff, even quoting her son who was in the same class at Eton, saying that Harry Wales saved him from being bottom of the class. What an awful thing for Penny Junor to put about.

Meghan is better educated than Harry but I believe that there is a lot she can learn from him too. They are both warm positive people who will make each other happy.

I think we expect too much of her. I think the post Xmas holiday is more like the tone they intend to keep. Face it – these people don’t have a 9-5 lifestyle and they don’t plan to have one. They’re rich and they’re royalty – they don’t need to work like the peasants! While Megan will be fun to watch fashionably, I’m not expecting much more than some patronages and speeches. No different to W&K and Harry, really.

I agree. Already they are going on a vacation. A vacation from what???
I’m glad I’m not British. These moochers would make me rip my hair out of my head. And this is why people will resent her – the Brits paying for an American to flit around the world on their dime.

Say what you will about Harry’s schedule. His work history is well documented so take it for what it is. For Meghan, in the last three weeks she completed filming and quit her full-time job, packed up her house and relocated to another country, announced her engagement including sitting for an interview, and completed her 1st public engagement. Feels a little premature to start knocking her work commitment.

Two things:
1) I say my husband is ambitious and mean it as a true compliment. His ambition is one of the things that made me fall in love. I hope that we can consider a woman’s ambition a positive quality before my daughter is my age, because we’re raising her to kick ass and take names and be proud of her ambitions.
2) Can we get a photo of the man who brought his barn owl to see the future princess? “Harry brought his bird, so I brought mine” is my favorite detail.

So, question: Up until the moment they announced this engagement, everyone picked on every article that painted Markle as the Second Coming (where the people who were obviously her friends laid it on super thick)…now everyone is acting like she IS indeed the Second Coming. Why the sudden change in attitude?
She didnt deserve former friends or her sister trashing her, no, but i find it amusing that people who were laughing at her before are now fawning at her feet.

Harry has been unemployed for years now, so is basically on vacation the vast majority of the time anyway, but as far as ‘vacation’ vacation’s go, he spends far more time on vacation than William & Kate. And Megan has been joining him in that lifestyle.

Don’t get your hopes up that they’re going to be hardworking. There’s been absolutely nothing standing in Harry’s way all these years, but he’s shown us time and time again that he’s not interested in putting real hours in. He’s a healthy young man who in a banner year did half what an ill 95 year managed. It’s truly pathetic.

@SoulSPA, I think you misunderstood my question about her being a WOC and scheming to snag a prince. I did not mean to imply you were concerned with her race as an obstacle to dating or marrying Harry. Let me reference IslaLund’s comment above (#2) to give you the basis for why I asked the question, though. IslaLund states, “It simply amazes me that people think a woman of color actually spent her life scheming and manipulating to become a member of the royal family.” I share her sentiments. Until they were introduced in 2016, I cannot think of one instance where Meghan or anyone else not in his family or circle of friends would have believed he’d be interested in dating a WOC. She wouldn’t have known he was open to such interactions until he accepted a date with her in 2016. And, if she moved fast toward a committed relationship once they did start dating, then at what speed do people think he moved at get her to believe he was sincere in developing a relationship with her? Some people try to subtly paint him as a victim of her charms or skill at persuasion and, IMO, that’s a lot of influence people are willing to credit her with despite not knowing him or her personally.